Socio-Technical Aspects of ERP Implementation: The Central Role of Communication

Abstract

The development and appropriation of ERP is a collaborative effort that relies on communication for its success. This case study demonstrates how communication is affected by the organizational context and how communication affects ERP success. Actual incidents of communication breakdowns clarify the impacts of communication gaps and communication complexity on mutual understanding and on relationships between communicators. Furthermore, the case study shows how communication gaps affect critical success factors of ERP, such as commitment and involvement, user acceptance and monitoring and feedback. An important implication is that communication in ERP has to be structured and managed. The qualitative methodology employed relies on an analysis of the recorded communication between the actors so that for the researcher, communication also tells the story of the collaboration between the ERP actors. It appears that communication complexity and breakdowns can serve as diagnostic tools that should alert management to take corrective action.